John Riccitiello is New CEO at Unity

"We keep our eyes out for the best talent and help wherever we feel we can use it at every level," wrote outgoing CEO, David Helgason, on a blog post on the official site earlier today. "That’s why I’m pleased to welcome John Riccitiello onto the Unity team as our new CEO."

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Riccitiello, who joined Unity's board in 2013 after serving as both COO and CEO at Electronic Arts, is described by the out-going CEO as a "heartfelt believer in the indie scene". Helgason, remaining on at Unity as Executive Vice President in charge of strategy and communications, will get to get back to doing what he "loves the most" - "strategy and connecting with developers."

"I'm so proud of everything Unity accomplished in the last decade," said Helgason, "but now it's time to look forward to an excellent future. Our mission is an important one, so I'm incredibly happy that John has agreed to lend his formidable experience to the role of CEO at Unity."

"We've had the chance to work together over the last year-and-a-bit and come to recognize how similar our views are on the importance of the democratization of development to a thriving developer ecosystem and healthy games industry. We're in great hands."

"Unity has been a hugely positive force in the games industry for years," Riccitiello said. "Now it's my incredible fortune to have the opportunity to help guide Unity going forward. Unity is more than a great engine or packages of services, it's an amazing and diverse community of developers, many of which are changing the way we think about game design and production. Unity's mission – to democratize development – is an important one that I'm very happy to help drive forward."